Final Pitches Made in Nationally Watched Georgia House Race

The homestretch scramble was marked by a last-minute ad from a little-known PAC trying to tie Ossoff's campaign to the "violent left" and the recent shooting of Republican House Whip Steve Scalise by a man who identified as a liberal

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Democrat candidate Jon Ossoff hopes to win over a GOP-leaning 6th Congressional District in suburban Atlanta over Republican candidate Karen Handel in Tuesday's runoff election, a win that could rattle Washington ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. (Published Monday, June 19, 2017)

Candidates in the tight, hard-fought race to replace Tom Price in Georgia's 6th Congressional District have one more day to sway voters.

The race between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff is seen as a significant political test for the new Trump Administration and spending could top $50 million, making it the most expensive House race in U.S. history. The district traditionally goes Republican, but most consider the race too close to call as voters head to the polls on Tuesday.

Ossoff, a 30-year-old former congressional staffer and documentary filmmaker, is seeking support from moderate voters with ads focused on the economy and national spending, while Handel, 55, is focusing on her experience as Georgia secretary of state and the leader of the state's largest county commission.

Both candidates tried to avoid talk on Monday about the contest's national implications for Democrats and Republicans in the Trump era, but their supporters aren't treading as carefully. That includes the president, who tweeted about the race several times on Monday.

The president initially misspelled Handel's name, but deleted that tweet.

Bill Johns, a Handel supporter from East Cobb, said he considers a vote for the GOP candidate a show of support for Trump. After shaking Handel's hand at a wood-paneled barbecue restaurant on Monday, Johns, 71, said he's amazed at the level of attention on the race.

"It's kind of a referendum," he said over a platter of pulled pork. "I still like Trump, but he can be a bit of a loose cannon. I think getting her elected helps his position and also gives us a stronger Republican Congress."

Handel maintained some distance from Trump in the primary but has fully embraced his support and agenda since, including a joint fundraiser. She and outside groups supporting her campaign have instead tried to link Ossoff to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

"The strategy for this campaign has always been about who is best and the right fit for people of this district," Handel said on Monday. "The people of this district are not from a views and a values standpoint aligned with Nancy Pelosi."

Ossoff, who once described his bid to take the GOP-controlled district as an opportunity to "make Trump furious," has since dialed back. He repeatedly downplayed Trump's role in the race while rallying supporters at a campaign office in Chamblee on Monday but acknowledged that it's a motivating force for many supporters.

"There are many in this community, myself among them, who have deep concerns about the direction of things in Washington, about the integrity and competence of this administration," he said. "I think that those concerns have only grown over time. And with a commitment to working across the aisle to get things done, to holding people in Washington accountable regardless of their political party, some fresh leaders can hopefully break through some of this nonsense."

Ossoff supporter Karen Langford said she had never volunteered for a political campaign until this year. The 70-year-old retiree said she has knocked on potential voters' doors every week since March for Ossoff's campaign, motivated by her fears about Trump's election and his approach to health care, immigration and education.

"We let that happen," she said. "I needed to do something to change it. I used to live in D.C. and I know what it's like to have zero representation in Congress. I don't want my district to have negative representation."